


Avenue of Saccharine Smiles

by Anonymous



Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Friends to Lovers, Hue's Works, M/M, Mutual Pining, and arent pvp masters either, funky au i got from wattpad, i did this in a day, im satisfied with the results lmao, oh theyre majorly ooc, okay bye nowww, okay uhm, tags are still really stupid, thats pretty much it, yeah - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-04
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-16 08:02:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29204028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: In which Dream finds that home isn't a place, rather people.OR:An AU I got from Wattpad and decided to make Dreamnoblade.
Relationships: Clay | Dream & Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream & Technoblade (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream & TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream & Wilbur Soot, Clay | Dream/Technoblade (Video Blogging RPF)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 160
Collections: Anonymous Fics





	Avenue of Saccharine Smiles

**Author's Note:**

> AU Explanation!  
> In this AU, the government places like wristbands on everyone's wrist to gauge happiness, and Dream's got the ability to absorb happiness, so they make him take away others' sadness at the cost of his own happiness. He can also drain happiness from others to funnel into himself as well.  
> Pretty basic, yeah.

Dream glanced around the room, waiting for the next person to arrive. He tried not to show his anxiety; he’s done this so many times, why is he anxious? Dream didn’t understand, but something in his gut told him that he should be scared, that he should be nervous. Dream always had been one to not trust his gut, however, so he squashed that feeling down to pulp as he focused on his breathing and not the anxiety swirling slowly in his body. The door creaked open as he tilted his head at the new arrival. He was a blonde-haired boy, not unlike Dream’s hair color. He had bright blue eyes that were filled with a hint of anger, and a couple of doses of frustration. The boy plopped himself in the chair adjacent to Dream and just sat there, waiting. Dream echoed his movements until a voice broadcasted within the room, telling Dream to ‘hurry up and do your thing’. Dream pursed his lips in a rare show of complete frustration, but complied, reaching out towards the other blonde. He never made it as the blonde leaned back to avoid his touch.

“Look, bitch boy, I’ve got no issues. So what if my happiness measure is down? It doesn’t matter much,” the teen spoke snottily. 

“If you didn’t have issues, you wouldn’t be here. I’m tired, just let me do my quote-unquote thing,” Dream snapped at him waspishly, gut instinct from before completely disappearing. The boy snorted but complied, muttering under his breath about how stuck-up Dream was. Dream shut his eyes as he heard the boy say that. _If only you knew. If only. I wonder then, would you still say the same thing?_ A couple minutes passed. Then a couple more. Dream watched as the numbers on the wristband the boy donned on his left arm slowly ticked up, the white numbers taunting him. He felt something stir inside him as he thought of the stark white 0 that his own wristband bore. And he wondered. Wondered about everything that led up to this… _phase_ in his life. Waking up day after mindless day to just slave away raising others’ happiness while his own was at rock bottom. Having that memory looped on repeat, taunting him while he tried to not think of the moment everything in his life crumbled to ashes. He integrated back into reality as the voice came over the loudspeakers: “Stop.” Dream did. Like an obedient puppy, but what more could he do? Call him weak but he honestly did not want to get electrocuted again. For about the what, sixtieth time? No, he’d prefer to stay out of pain. He watched numbly as the boy lumbered out the room, a goofy smile on his face as a result of Dream raising his happiness. And once again, he caught sight of the three digits on that black wristband. Inside, he wept. For everything that was taken from him because of his ability. Lamented the fact that his wristband, for the foreseeable future, would stay on one digit. But that was internal. Externally, he could do nothing but repeat the process of staving away sadness, one person at a time.

\----

Dream’s life was dull until he was allowed some semblance of freedom. Apparently, people had heard of his state and rioted a bit, until the government declared the situation solved with saccharine smiles hiding the utter annoyance at their problem. And Dream? He spent his time thinking. He wondered how it felt to truly enjoy freedom. How it would be like to be able to feel the wind messing up your hair as it scampered past, how it’d feel like to be able to enjoy the feeling of lush grass under your hands as you sat in the middle of a green forest. How it’d just feel to be able to walk outside with no restrictions. And he didn’t need to wonder any longer, according to them. He was allowed forty minutes alone with the sky, the earth, and everything in between every week. Hate festered in him. Forty minutes was enough for seven days? To him, it was completely unreasonable. Then, like always, he reprimanded himself, feeding himself lies that everything was fine, that he should be grateful they allowed him this small joy. Yet, there was a part of him that knew that what he was telling himself was wrong. That all of this was wrong. Everything from the gray room to the tracker inserted in his leg to make sure he didn’t try to escape. He knew better. Dream knew that if he tried to run, they’d catch him. And then probably torture him. So he stayed put. Allowing his feet to carry themselves back to the building. And then repeating the process the next week. The thought of rebellion never flickering through his mind for more than a couple of seconds. 

\----

And then, he came along. Techno, with his burning red eyes and pastel pink hair. Dream was pretty sure that socializing was against the rules of his controlled freedom, but there was just something about the pinkette that drew him in. Maybe it was how the other seemed just as awkward as he. Maybe it was because of the smiles the other spared him that caused something warm to flutter up in his heart. Maybe it was just simply because he was starved of actual human contact, as he didn’t count gripping someone’s hand to drain away their happiness contact. Whatever the reason may be, he went to the same alcove every time, where the pinkette was already there and ready to do something new. And for the first time since the gray room became his home in the literal sense, Dream felt truly at home with the pinkette. It wasn’t a bad realization, the thought that home was people. It helped explain that although they said that he belonged in that gray room, he never felt like it was home. Slowly, slowly, his eyes, once bright and lively, then dull and murky, turned lighter once again. 

\----

“What’s your family like, Techs?” Dream voiced. 

“It’s pretty large if I’m permitted to say so,” Techno mused, eyes thoughtfully boring into the stone ceiling protecting the two from the pouring rain outside, “It’s my dad, Phil, then my younger brothers Tommy and Wil. I think Tommy might’ve actually seen you one time. Phil took him somewhere and when Tommy came back, he looked like he’d been drinking.” Dream couldn’t help himself. He wheezed at the description of how Tommy had reacted.

“Maybe. Physical description of him?” Dream asked, wanting to see if indeed he had helped Tommy. 

“Blonde, with hair similar to yours and like, blue eyes,” Techno replied, laughing a bit at his next sentence, “He’s got a sassy attitude and is overdramatic.”

“Pfft- I think I did see him that one time. He called me a ‘bitch boy’,” Dream stifled laughter at the amusement present on his friend’s face.

“Really does sound like Tommy,” Techno said after a short pause. The blonde smiled and they continued with their small talk as time flew by. Dream said goodbye after realizing that his time was up, sleeve pulled down to reveal a number ticking up. Dream didn’t notice. Techno, on the other hand, did. As Dream left, a secret smile was shared between Techno and the storm clouds crying rain outside the alcove as he heard Dream running in the opposite direction. Techno smiled for everything Dream had experienced that was new, and everything new to come. 

\----

“Hey, Dream?” Techno asked one day.

“Mmm?” Dream asked, distracted by the setting sun that seemed so close, yet so far. When Techno didn’t respond immediately, Dream tilted his head and looked at the pinkette. “Techs?”

“Oh- uhm,” Techno almost looked a bit scared, “Do you ever think of y’know, running away?” Dream contemplated his friend’s words, chewing it over inside his head. 

“Yeah, I guess,” Dream replied honestly, “But I always just remind myself that I’m being ungrateful for thinking that.” 

“But what if you weren’t?” Techno pressed, eliciting a long contemplation on Dream’s part.

“My mind’s conflicting,” Dream settled on finally, thinking for a couple of seconds on how he should elaborate further, “It says that I should want to escape, but the other part says that they’re protecting me. It gets too much sometimes.” Techno nodded sympathetically and they just sat there, watching the time on Techno’s watch tick along. Dream sighed as he saw the 40-minute mark, reluctantly rising to head back to the car, head haunted by memories of a certain pinkette’s words and the thoughts that those words elicited. 

\----

Slowly but surely, Dream’s thoughts began to get more and more ambitious, spurred on by the thought that he did deserve more freedom than two-thousand four hundred seconds every week. And he slowly started believing it too. He wouldn’t dare show it to the others, however. He knew it’d practically be a death sentence to give any indication that he was conspiring. He and Techno planned for every occasion. And well, Dream was confident in it. He was confident that he deserved everything that others got to feel. Wasn’t he human too, after all? So, they waited. Waited for the perfect opportunity patiently. They’d already waited for a long while. What was a bit more, after all?

\----

The day came soon. Sooner than both of them had honestly expected. They had extended his time outside after statistics came that showed the number of people in the low 20’s for their happiness measures was at an all time low. Dream couldn’t be happier. It meant more time with Techno, after all. Speaking of which, he still couldn’t place a name on the warm and fuzzy feeling that arose within him every time the other boy showed joy. He felt like he was on cloud nine whenever the other laughed. But, he pushed those feelings aside in favor of escaping the clutches of the government first. He could deal with them later, right?

\----

On a Friday night, when the moon was clear and the stars were gleaming with the promise of freedom, they made their move. Dream reassured Techno that he was fine, that he could suck it up and deal with the pain while Techno extracted the tracker in Dream’s leg. Dream bit down on his sleeve as he felt the cool piece of technology leave his body, dripping with his blood. He grimaced as Techno bandaged it but stood up and began moving nonetheless, albeit having to lean a bit on the pink-haired boy for support. Then, they began moving off into the night, towards the only sanctuary that Techno knew, besides the alcove in which he met his best friend. The night welcomed them, wrapping them up in Nyx’s embrace as they moved away from a room tainted with fake smiles and wrapped with sadness forever. 

\----

_1 year after_

Dream bit his lip nervously as Techno waited for him to speak. He’d asked Techno to meet up with him, and now that the pinkette had obliged, he felt a wave of nervousness crash upon him. 

“Dre?” the pinkette asked, and Dream took a deep breath and thought, _It’s now or never._ And he began to talk.

“Uhm, how do I start, Techs I like you. Like, a lot, and not just in a platonic way. It’s okay if you don’t like me back and I really hope that this won’t ruin our friendship if you don’t- but it probably will because awkward- and yeah how does anyone confess really-” Dream was cut off by Techno speaking gently.

“Dream, I like you too. I just always thought that you didn’t like me back,” Techno confessed, pink rising to paint his cheeks. Dream just stood there, mouth open wide as if he hadn’t expected Techno to like him back. Techno just laughed a bit and hugged the blonde. Dream was responsive, hugging back immediately with a joyed peal of laughter. 

“Uhhh, this might be too early, but what does that make us now?” Dream asked, almost wincing from the utter embarrassment that ran unrestrained in his head. 

“Let’s start with boyfriends,” Techno replied after a minute, collecting himself. 

“Yeah,” Dream said faintly, a starstruck look adorning his face, “Boyfriends.”

\----

And later, in the comfort of his friend’s- no boyfriend’s home, Dream was awaited with two shouts of “FUCKING FINALLY!” and “You two finally got your shit together!” from Tommy and Wilbur respectively. Phil just watched with a content smile. And for once, Dream didn’t have to wonder, because he already got the answers to everything he ever wanted. From the soft looks that the two now shared, to the freedom of feeling grass under his fingers whenever he wanted and the wind freely disheveling his hair. And yes, Dream was happier than ever, the three digits shining shamelessly on his wrist a testament to that.

**Author's Note:**

> Oh, he got found out by being blamed in around 8th grade by his friends, who panicked about their low numbers and blamed it on him.  
> Yeah.  
> kayyy tyvm for reading <3333  
> kudos are really appreciated  
> comments give me so much fucking serotonin so uhm ~~please~~ consider leaving one!


End file.
